Q-Park: A Perfect Place for Holy Week

Friday, April 07, 2017

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

~John 3:16

Every year, Filipinos show their passionate devotion of the commemoration of Jesus Christ’s Death and Resurrection. Holy Week is being observed as a week of a solemn ceremony with some religious rites and rituals. Some Filipino flagellants do modification under the sun in a bloody form while the others pay a visit to holy places. Roman Catholic and Protestant groups highly mark this week as one of the yearly vows. It usually begins on Palm Sunday and ends on Easter Sunday. Mostly this event congregates at the middle of March or April. Holy Week is known as "Semana Santa" for Spanish and "Mahal na Araw" in Filipino.

Q-Park: A Perfect Place for Penitence

In Cebu, some of the places where people commemorate are to drop in on religious parks and churches. Norberto Quisumbing Jr.'s family and the Norkis Group built a holy place known as "Q-Park" for everyone. It is located in the northern part of Cebu Province in the municipality of Compostela.

Q-Park is a perfect place for penitence and to do the solemn ceremony of the Lenten season. It also provides a superb environment to unwind oneself out from daily grinds. It has an overlooking view of its splendid green leaves and trees across the neighboring mountains. It poses breathtaking sceneries and a peaceful ambiance that would take your loads off. The place is about 200-hectares and composes of various functional facilities which are exquisitely made for religious activities such as recollection or retreat, Station of the Cross and Heroes' Hill visitation.

You can get through the place by private vehicle or commute along the provincial road and go straight to the main street of Barangay Magay, Compostela, Cebu. Stop at the signage and from the corner, it is about 3-4 kilometer before you can reach the main entrance of the Q-Park. You can travel via jeepney off to Compostela and then ride a motorcycle-for-hire going inside the park. A private vehicle is highly recommended since the area has limited motorcycle-for-hire going back to the main street.

The Blessed Virgin Mary

The Blessed Virgin Mary is located on the hilltop which is about 44 feet tall and it is 1,000 feet above sea level. It is situated where everyone can have a perfect view of the entire place and its opposite sides. It takes more than a hundred steps going to the top.

A Replica of the House of Blessed Virgin Mary

This facility is the replication of the blessed Virgin Mary's house in Ephesus, Turkey. It was said it's about eight months of construction before the opening of this house. It took so long yet it's worth to wait!

The Station of the Cross

A second highlight next to the mirror image of Blessed Virgin Marry is the unique structure of Q-Park's Station of the Cross. The fourteen stations are ideally made of molded steel with a black screen backdrop. The view of the Calvary Scene is also located on the top of the mountain opposite to where Mother Mary situated. It has an impressive view around the place.

The Chapel

Before you can get through the stairs you can pass by the chapel, which has a double opening, the entrance and the exit part of each side and at the back of the altar. It has an open view of the Blessed Virgin Mary statue.

Strolling around Q-Park was one of the kind moment I did for my holy week special. I got a chance to spend precious time with my parents, though it has been just once in a blue moon experience to have them in solo mode. It healed me inside and out, indeed.